When did Gene Field open AnimeNation in Clearwater Florida?
Gene Field opened AnimeNation in 1995 within Clearwater, Florida. The business began as a small online store selling anime and manga products to American fans.
Questions about AnimeNation
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What happened to the physical retail location of AnimeNation by 1998?
AnimeNation built a massive facility in 1999 inside Tampa's Lynmar Commerce Park that covered 15,000 square feet of space dedicated to storage and sales operations. The company decided to open this physical retail location after success came quickly enough from its initial online store.
Which companies handled distribution for Risky Safety and Haré+Guu releases?
ADV Films handled distribution for Risky Safety while Funimation distributed Haré+Guu after Bang Zoom! completed the dub work. Bandai blocked the use of the original ending for the Haré+Guu TV show due to licensing conflicts.
How long did RentAnime.com operate before closing at the end of 2015?
RentAnime.com operated as a DVD-by-mail service similar to Netflix but specialized strictly in anime titles until it finally closed at the end of 2015 marking the end of this specific division. The service continued running even after AnimeNation shut down its main online store in 2014.
When did John Oppliger stop writing articles for the Ask John column on July 5th 2023?
John Oppliger wrote over 1,070 articles for the Ask John column between 1999 and 2023. As of the 5th of July 2023, the Ask John blog and forums still operated independently outlasting the company store itself by many years.